Volume 9: Chapter 20 - Scarred Body
After mournfully crying out, I spat out a mouthful of blood as I collapsed.
The Demon fox cried out my name in fright as my consciousness had left me once again.
……
“Master, Master……” I heard the Demon fox’s gentle callings.
I opened my eyes to see her caring appearance. I pushed her aside and hollered, “Why did you save me?! Why? You should have just let me die. How am I going to meet people with my looks?” I had discovered that my face was the same as my body that was covered with deep scars before I collapsed.
‘Even if everything can recover, will these scars recover? How am I going to be able to face my relatives, friends, even my most beloved Mu Zi and Hai Shui?’
The Demon fox felt wrong as she climbed up and clung to my arm. “Master, please recover your body first. Everything will be alright.”
I gradually calmed down as I sigh and said, “I’m finished. Everything is finished.”
The Demon fox excitedly said, “It isn’t, Master. You’re incredibly strong so how can it be over? It won’t be over.” Whenever she thought about me standing on Xiao Jin facing the Demon race’s most powerful expert, she would be extremely excited.
When I looked at her, her appearance wasn’t pretty and flirtatious, but rather, it looked indescribably moving to me. I said, “Thank you, if it weren’t for you, I probably would have been eaten by Demon beasts already. But why did you rescue me? It was totally unnecessary.”
The Demon fox’s face flushed as she replied, “Master, the favour that you did for me was too much. I’m willing to follow you all my life. I’m currently a first ranked Demon beast. Even though my power isn’t strong, I definitely won’t be a burden to you.”
I replied in smiles, “What favour have I done that makes you favour me so? Didn’t I just spare you life?”
The Demon fox replied, “No! Not only that, Master, please look at this.” Upon saying that, she changed back to her original form before lifting up her six large tails. Beneath those tails, there was unexpectedly three small tails. Ah! A nine-tailed Demon fox. She had evolved.
The Demon fox changed back to a girl’s form before saying, “I’ve evolved. You have seen it. The reason my evolution occurred stems from your fight against the Demon emperor, as I absorbed the strong Godly powers that emitted from your body. How can I not pay back such a favour? If it was by my own, I wouldn’t have been able to reach to such a level.”
I said, “Then congratulations, is nine tails your final form?”
The Demon fox shook her head, “Nope, but it’s about there. I’m already satisfied at this level.”
I asked in astonishment, “What other forms can you evolve to? It can’t be until 12 tails, right?”
The Demon fox replied, “That’s not the case. If my power had increased to a certain standard, my body would undergo changes. Under the protection and support of the Godly power once again, my magic power can be stabilized with a top grade purple crystal along with a profound yellow gemstone to stabilize my body. In addition to that, I’ve to use a top grade green chrysoprase to protect my meridians and inner organs, and lastly, to consume the Shattering Bone Grass and Dissolving Bone Grass from the Beast race. After breaking down and reforming, I can change into any form at will. Moreover, I can maintain that form forever.”
I asked astonished, “That’s impressive, won’t that be a race that can transform?”
The Demon fox nodded. “That’s right. The final form won’t increase my powers, but it will give me the skills to completely transform myself.”
I nodded. “What form do you wish to transform into?”
The Demon fox flushed, “If it’s possible, I hope to become a human. I will be able to stay and serve by Master’s side forever that way. You don’t know about this, but the demon beasts here are always bullied and treated either like toys for the higher ranked demon race or slaves.” Upon saying that, the Demon fox’s eyes reddened.
I caressed her hair. “I don’t need you to serve me forever, but you’ve saved me so I’ll definitely repay this favour. I have all those gemstones that you had mentioned. If we get the chance to head to the beast race, I’ll get some of the grass medication you needed to allow you to become a human.”
The Demon fox’s eye lit up and replied, “Really? I’ll really have to thank you for that, Master.” As she said that, she kneeled down.
I hastily pulled her up and said, “Don’t do that anymore. We aren’t in a Master and Servant relationship from now on, but are friends instead. Do you understand?”
The Demon fox was stunned. “Friends? You’re willing to be my friend?”
I smiled apologetically, “You didn’t avoid me after seeing my current look and even saved me. It’s my honour to be able to call you a friend.”
The Demon fox was so elated that she teared up before pouncing into my embrace, wailing.
I momentarily couldn’t control my feelings as she rubbed her body against me. I was lucky that my body was feeble. If not, I would immediately do a shameless act.
I gently push her away and said, “I’m hungry. Let’s have something.” I took out some food from my spatial pocket and ate with the Demon fox. As I ate, I said, “That’s right. I can't always call you Demon fox so, how about I give you a name?”
The Demon fox elatedly agreed, “Alright!”
I pondered for a while before saying, “Since you were so gentle and considerate when I was unwell, how about your name will be Xiao Rou? Your full name will be Shui Rou Er? How’s that?”
The Demon fox jumped up and exclaimed, “I’ve got a name! I’ve got a name! I’ll be known as Shui Rou Er.”
Seeing her so elated, my heart felt much more comfortable.
After having our meal, I let Xiao Rou protect me as I started to recover my magic powers.
After 10 days, my body had already fully recovered but I was still extremely thin. The dark skin with horrifying scars from before was still the same. However, my magic power had recovered to one third from my peak state. The main reason for that was due to having only one gold dan. I knew that if I wanted to recover my original looks, it wouldn’t be easy. Time waited for no one, I needed to go and rescue Big Brother Zhan Hu and the rest as soon as possible so I couldn’t afford to continue tarrying here.
I initially wanted Xiao Ruo to stay here, but she insisted on coming along. She said that she definitely would be able to help me. I agreed, because I couldn't just toss her aside.
Since Xiao Rou had reached the nine-tailed Demon fox level, she could shrink her body to become a Demon Fox that resembled a small squirrel as she hid inside my clothing.
I finally saw how the City looked like; it was really imposing. It was much larger than the city in Aixia. The walls were much wider and higher. There were a couple of Demon race guarding the entrance of the city.
I walked over with my head lowered. A soldier of the Demon race yelled at me, “Raise your head! Why have you lowered your head?” Since I was wearing a long sleeve and long trousers clothing, he wasn’t able to see the scars on my body.
I whispered, “My looks are horrifying so I’m afraid that I would frighten you.”
That soldier said, “Stop talking nonsense and raise your head.”
I only had to raise my head; all the soldiers and citizens of the demon raise broke out into an uproar after looking at my appearance. I hastily lowered my head. I thought, ‘I’m finished. My handsome looks seems to have been completely ruined. However, it’s not a bad thing as I won’t need to disguise myself since even Mu Zi will definitely be unable to recognise me.’